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Indonesians safe amid racially charged violence in Minneapolis: Mission
The Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago has advised Indonesian nationals living in Minnesota's twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to remain vigilant and avoid rally sites.
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Protesters gather to watch shopping carts burning near the Minneapolis Police third precinct after a white police officer was caught on a bystander's video pressing his knee into the neck of African-American man George Floyd, who later died at a hospital, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US, May 27, 2020. (Reuters/Adam Bettcher)
T
he Indonesian Consulate General in Chicago has reported all 270 Indonesian nationals in Minnesota’s twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are safe amid violent protests breaking out in the cities.
Friday marked the fourth day of racially charged arson, looting and vandalism in the Minnesota cities over the death of a 46-year-old black man, George Floyd, seen on video gasping for breath while a white police officer kneels on his neck, Reuters reported.
“We have communicated with Indonesian citizens in the affected areas. They are all safe and in good condition,” Virana Khairunnisa of the consulate general’s office told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
The office also advised all Indonesian citizens living in Chicago, Detroit, Columbus and other Midwest cities to remain calm and vigilant while also avoiding rally sites, as more protests were scheduled to take place in those cities.
The Consulate General appealed to the Indonesian citizens not to go outside except for urgent matters, also to comply with the authority’s guidelines and monitor the condition of fellow Indonesians.
An Indonesian woman living in Minnesota, Terry Perdanawati, shared the Consulate General’s advice and put its hotline on Twitter.
“To all [Indonesian] friends in Minnesota and the Midwest area, please save the hotline number and report if you need help,” she tweeted in her account @tey_saja on Friday.
Himbauan dari KJRI Chicago @INAinChicago.
Disimpen nomernya ya teman-teman di Minnesota dan area Midwest lainnya. Jika ada apa2 langsung hubungi KJRI.
Selalu waspada dan tetap di rumah aja. Jangan lupa berdoa semoga kerusuhan ini segera berakhir. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/2JQDBjvATB
— Terry Perdanawati (@tey_saja) May 29, 2020
Fires and vandalism erupted in both cities on Thursday night local time. In Minneapolis, angry protesters set ablaze the Third Precinct police station, as reported by Reuters.
Reuters reported on Friday that Hennepin County prosecutors had charged Derek Chauvin, the police officer identified as having used his knee to pin the unarmed Floyd on Monday, with murder. Previously, he and three fellow officers identified as having been involved in Floyd’s arrest were dismissed from the police department.
Read also: Racially charged violence rages for third night in Minneapolis
Chauvin’s arrest, however, did not succeed in lowering the tension, as hundreds of protesters clashed with riot police outside the battered Third Precinct building on Friday evening – defying the curfew imposed by Mayor Jacob Frey.
Protesters have been demanding systemic changes, crying support for the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the wave of killings of African-Americans by the police.
Sympathy protests had been erupting since Wednesday in other cities, including Los Angeles, Denver, Phoenix and New York; with more scheduled on Saturday in Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago.
The Minnesota authority has deployed around 500 National Guard troops in Minneapolis, St. Paul and adjacent areas.
Earlier, President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter he would send in the National Guard to assume control while making comments about “looting leads to shooting”. The message got widespread condemnation for glorifying violence.
